The 25 Best iPad Games

Gaming on the iPad has gone from strength to strength since its inception, and the choices on offer today are startlingly good. There are hundreds of great iPad games across every genre to meet even the most discerning palates. But to help you find your way around we've picked out the best 25 that money can buy (though in many cases you won't need to spend a cent). And for more must-play iOS gaming options, take a look at our lists of the 25 Best Free iPad Games, The 25 Best iPhone Games, and The 25 Best Free iPhone Games.

Modern Combat 5: Blackout (free) is living proof that first-person shooters can work on a touch screen. It manages to improve on its already-stellar predecessor with tighter controls, expanded multiplayer, and some of the finest graphics on iOS. A serviceable single-player campaign does a fine job of teaching you the ropes for the main attraction: the raft of free-for-all and squad-based multiplayer modes.

Few games are as beautiful and well-designed as Monument Valley ($3.99), an MC Escher-inspired puzzler in which you alter the architecture in an interactive painting so that protagonist princess Ida can get to the exit without being accosted by the crow people. Its 10 main chapters are exquisite, and if you think it's too short be sure to grab the $1.99 in-app purchase for eight more.

A stylish, modern take on the classic Jules Verne novel, 80 Days ($4.99) may be the best examples of interactive fiction yet created. It takes you on a breathtaking journey around the world via a path of your own choosing, using all manner of transport and methods both legal and illegal to carry on your adventure. Impeccably presented and cleverly designed, it's hard to find fault with anything in 80 Days.

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft (free) builds on a decade of stories and adventures in mega-popular MMO World of Warcraft, but knowledge of that universe is not a prerequisite to succeeding in its card collecting and battling. Hearthstone is both massively detailed and accessible to newcomers, with nine card classes and a huge range of possible strategies. Plus a large player-base means ample multiplayer fodder.

XCOM: Enemy Within ($4.99) builds on the excellence of XCOM: Enemy Unknown (which is no longer on the App Store) with another faithful console and computer adaptation. The sci-fi squad-based strategy action holds up so well on an iPad you could be forgiven for thinking it was made for iOS first, and a deep story with loads of missions and multiplayer maps ensures you won't run out of new stuff to do anytime soon.

Tactical RPG The Banner Saga ($9.99) is the full package — brilliant design, great audio and graphics, and a captivating Norse mythology-inspired story in which your decisions really matter and the characters are all too fallibly human. Its hand-painted art looks fantastic on an iPad and while it started out as a PC and Mac game it feels right at home on a touch screen.

If you've not been exposed to the MOBA craze, Vainglory (free) could be just the place to start. It plays somewhat like League of Legends, which is one of the most popular e-sports titles in the world, but it's distinctly its own experience rather than an attempt to copy its influencers. Vainglory is easy to learn, hard to master, and great to play in 20-minute chunks while relaxing with your iPad (ideally with two friends in the room as your teammates).

World of Tanks Blitz (free) brilliantly condenses the vehicular warfare of massively multiplayer online PC game World of Tanks into a bite-sized mobile package. Blitz carries over much of its big brother's careful strategizing and sprawling upgrade trees while at the same time keeping matches short and sweet. The only downside is that you're stuck with just the one 7v7 game mode.

Asphalt 8: Airborne (free) handily trumps its many mobile predecessors by delivering immensely polished and wickedly fast racing action, with glossy licensed cars, great multi-path tracks, and loads of ramps that send you soaring across gaps (and into opponents). Online multiplayer is great, and there’s plenty of single-player content — plus it’s now available for free.

Survival is rarely a sure thing in FTL: Faster Than Light ($9.99), a brilliant touch conversion of the excellent Mac space strategy game. You’ll take the helm of your own cruiser, attempting to manage your ship’s resources and crew effectively while pushing deeper into the cosmos and dealing with the various crises that emerge along the way. It’s one of the most thrilling experiences on iPad.

Threes! ($2.99) is our favorite iOS puzzler in ages, as the grid-based number affair challenges you to add compatible tiles to create the largest numbers possible. Each swipe shifts all movable tiles at once, so every single move must be considered — in fact, you’ll need to be thinking several moves ahead to have much success. It’s brainy but accessible, and pretty fantastic.

There’s nothing quite like Device 6 ($3.99) on the App Store or any other platform. Essentially a text adventure remixed for the modern era, Simogo’s game tells its spy-centric story in unconventional ways, with the words streaming all around the screen and blended with other types of media. The narrative itself is intriguing, but the way it’s told is truly spellbinding.

Year Walk ($3.99) is unlike anything we've ever seen on the iPad, as this gripping adventure inspired by Swedish folklore delivers an atmospheric mystery within a tight, attractive package. You'll wander the winter wilderness using a unique first-person navigation system, all while solving puzzles, plus the game uses a free companion app to fill out the backstory and enhance the later moments.

How do you follow up one of the best iPad multiplayer games of all time? Super Stickman Golf 2 ($0.99) does it by adding yet another great competitive mode. In addition to the speed-based active online and local mode, the sequel also has a stellar turn-based asynchronous mode that lets you fit in rounds throughout the day. Side-scrolling golf is also excellent fun in single-player, though!

A minimalist marvel of touch screen design, Hundreds ($4.99) is a wondrous iPad experience that is notably improved by the larger screen, not to mention the possibility of enlisting help from a nearby hand or two. In this challenging puzzler, you'll tap moving balls on the screen to make them expand, with the goal of notching a grand total of 100. It's a real treat across its 100 stages and unlocked endless mode.

Who knew that a tablet could be the perfect destination for a harrowing, single-player adventure about surviving the zombie uprising? Set in the same universe as the comics and TV series, The Walking Dead (Free) takes the form of a classic tap-and-swipe adventure affair, but with horrifying scenarios and brutal decisions that span four additional episodes available within the app ($4.99 each). It's absolutely gripping stuff.

Even now, more than a year after release, Infinity Blade II ($2.99) is still the go-to game for showing off the power of your iPad. Of course, it's one heck of an entertaining experience, beyond its processor-pushing capabilities. Outfitting your warrior with earned gear and abilities, you'll enter a series of swipe-based duels against increasingly challenging foes. Fall and you'll start over, albeit stronger and smarter.

Locked in a dark room with a perplexing safe in the middle, you'll find yourself solving a series of curious puzzle-boxes in The Room ($1.99), a deeply involving and maddeningly challenging game that's best experienced on the larger iPad screen. As you solve each piece of the puzzle, the boxes transform and offer even more unexpected objectives, with gorgeous puzzle designs sucking you in for the long haul.

There's nothing like hitting that last glowing orange peg and watching the ball crawl through the air in slow motion, finally sinking into a score pocket while "Ode to Joy" blares from the speaker. Then again, there are few gaming addictions as powerful as Peggle HD ($0.99), which serves up 55 stages of pegs to clear with a pachinko-inspired approach, plus you can add dozens more levels within for another buck.

Looking to get sucked into an ambient wonderland for an hour or two at a time? Osmos ($0.99) was one of the first truly brilliant iPad games, and it's still one of the best, as this inventive journey through petri dishes and solar systems is truly absorbing. As an organism, you'll aim to take in other smaller ones around you as you work through dozens of levels and even take part in multiplayer showdowns.

One of the most mesmerizing games to appear on any system, Bastion ($4.99) is a beautifully presented action-RPG that follows The Kid, a young hero making his way through the enemy-filled wreckage of the unknown "Calamity." Hand-painted environments nearly steal the show here, but it's the active vocal narration that ultimately makes the strongest impression, detailing your quest as it unfolds.

Looking for a fantastical escape without leaving your living room? Plug in some headphones and dive into Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP ($4.99), an oft-fascinating adventure that finds you exploring beautiful pixel art backdrops and interacting with odd characters, with occasional stops to solve puzzles and fight boss characters. Brilliant presentation makes it a game worth getting lost in for a while.

Casual hit Plants vs. Zombies HD ($0.99) has been spun out to numerous different platforms, but it's at its best on the iPad, especially those with Retina displays. In this goofy gem, you'll drop plants into your backyard or roof to ward off the oncoming zombie invaders, and the large screen and clear visuals of the iPad make planing out and executing your strategies feel incredibly intuitive.

What's a board game without the board? Still pretty amazing in the case of Carcassonne ($9.99), a sparkling adaptation of the much-loved modern favorite about laying tiles and claiming land. What makes it especially great on iPad is the comfortable use of pass-and-play mode, in which five players can take part on the same device, though it also includes online and single-player options.

World of Goo HD ($4.99) may not have started its life on a touch screen, but this wonderfully offbeat indie puzzler is a perfect fit for iPad in nearly every way. It's a game about building wobbly structures using various types of sticky balls, which you can manipulate easily by dragging and dropping into place, plus the memorable aesthetic only makes the increasingly tough challenges all the more engaging.